What seemed like a boring concept, turned out to be a suspense filled tale with many twists, turns, secrets and discoveries. I know that I’m treading on fragile ground when I say that Jodi Lew Smith has blended the gothic and historical romance novel into one, but it’s true. Okay, consider this...the gothic novel; such as, Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights (1847) emphasizes the devastating effect of jealousy and vengefulness: Heathcliff is rebuffed by Catherine in favor of Edgar and seeks revenge. In The Clever Mill Horse, Henry Emerston’s proposal of marriage is rejected by Aunt Lucille and Henry spends his life looking for retribution. I’m calling Jodi Lew-Smith’s novel a historical romantic gothic (is there such a thing?) because of our heroine Ella’s relationship with Zeke/Lucas and the fact that the Flax Gin was a real invention, albeit in the later 1860s. This is not to be confused with Maximilian de Winter, Rebecca and the second Mrs. de Winter in Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca (a 1938 gothic romance novel). However Daphne du Maurier had the best sinister character in a Mrs. Danvers. Are you confused yet? What I’m trying to say is that Jodi’s novel had a lot of the above characteristics which reminded me of those famous novels.
Now since gothic novels employed descriptive writing, how did Jodi do? I think she did very well. On page 43, Jodi describes Ella’s father, Amherst…”He was of middle height, but seemed shorter because of his unusually thick shoulders-derived from years of hefting flour sacks. Unlike his powerful shoulders, his face, which must have once been handsome in a rugged way, had sagged here and puffed there, until he had come to wear an old man’s face on a vigorous body.” Not bad for a farmer with 250 apple trees! Also intriguing is why Jodi named the novel the way she did. What was clever about Edgar (a 33 years old horse)? Because he carried the hidden gold watch? Because he walk in circles at Grandpa’s blacksmith shop? I read a review that said Edgar never reappeared, did you actually read this book to the end? Anyway, what is this book about?
Okay, it’s set in central New York from 1804 to 1811 in the fictional (?) town of Deborahville. Grandfather Tunnicliff and Ella, his granddaughter, are trying to perfect his design for a flax machine, similar to the cotton gin. They are attacked by the Loomis gang on a horse stealing venture. Grandpa is killed (really?), Pete, the indian, is wounded, but Ella, throwing a knife, kills one of the gang. Ella had previously agreed to get the patent for the machine if Grandpa Tunnicliff died before the machine’s patent was acquired. In the ensuing chapters, we meet Zeke, Ella’s long time friend, Aunt Lucille Tunnicliff (is she passing counterfeit notes?), the underhanded lawyer, Henry Emerston, who says he will help Ella get the patent for the Flax Gin. Aunt Lucille believes him, wise Indian Pete doesn’t (is he Lucille’s secret lover?) Henry lets Ella use a room in his mill to work on her Flax machine. Henry’s son, Lucas, an artist, shows up to sketch Ella while she works on the flax machine. Really? Meanwhile, Ella’s father, a drunk, comes home and beats up his wife, Catherine (same name as tragic figure in Wuthering Heights) and the children. He only stops when Ella comes home with her throwing knife. Ella finds out that Henry Emerston is planning to steal her patent. The race is on. How can Ella complete the machine and get to the patent office in Washington, D.C. before Henry and the Loomis gang? Get your own copy of this novel to find out. The real suspense is just starting.
I really enjoyed this novel, but I must say that I’ve read quite a few maiden novels this year and many have been five star and female written. Good job ladies! The only thing I did not like in this novel was on page 409, when I read…”end of book one.” I don’t mind sequels, but I don’t like reading a novel only to find out that the story is not over. I like to decide by myself whether I want to read a series. Many times this has stopped me from reading the second book. A good example of this is when I got to page 766 of Justin Cronin’s novel, The Passage, and realized that the story wasn’t over. I haven’t read the second one. I guess it’s just me. I prefer connecting works like All the Pretty Horses (see my review of 4/02/2013), The Crossing (see my review of 10/03/2013), and Cities of the Plain by Cormac McCarthy. All three stories ended, but were related to each other. It was my choice to read, or not read the second and the third novels. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Jodi’s novel, I’m just relating to you my individual quirk. Enough said, read this gothic romance (?), it’s worth the effort.
RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
Comment: So what is your favorite gothic novel? I have written about this before, so I will not bring up those novels again today. I did consult with goodreads.com (one of my favorite sources) and eliminated the novels I previously talked about. So what’s left? Plenty, how about:
The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole, “First published pseudonymously in 1764, The Castle of Otranto purported to be a translation of an Italian story of the time of the crusades. In it Walpole attempted, as he declared in the Preface to the Second Edition, "to blend the two kinds of romance: the ancient and the modern." Crammed with invention, entertainment, terror, and pathos, the novel was an immediate success and Walpole's own favorite among his numerous works. The novel is reprinted here from a text of 1798, the last that Walpole himself prepared for the press.”
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte,”Orphaned into the household of her Aunt Reed at Gateshead, subject to the cruel regime at Lowood charity school, Jane Eyre nonetheless emerges unbroken in spirit and integrity. She takes up the post of governess at Thornfield, falls in love with Mr. Rochester, and discovers the impediment to their lawful marriage in a story that transcends melodrama to portray a woman's passionate search for a wider and richer life than Victorian society traditionally allowed.
With a heroine full of yearning, the dangerous secrets she encounters, and the choices she finally makes, Charlotte Bronte's innovative and enduring romantic novel continues to engage and provoke readers.”
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, “Written in his distinctively dazzling manner, Oscar Wilde’s story of a fashionable young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty is the author’s most popular work. The tale of Dorian Gray’s moral disintegration caused a scandal when it first appeared in 1890, but though Wilde was attacked for the novel’s corrupting influence, he responded that there is, in fact, “a terrible moral in Dorian Gray.” Just a few years later, the book and the aesthetic/moral dilemma it presented became issues in the trials occasioned by Wilde’s homosexual liaisons, which resulted in his imprisonment. Of Dorian Gray’s relationship to autobiography, Wilde noted in a letter, “Basil Hallward is what I think I am: Lord Henry what the world thinks me: Dorian what I would like to be—in other ages, perhaps.”
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, “First published in French as a serial in 1909, "The Phantom of the Opera" is a riveting story that revolves around the young, Swedish Christine Daaé. Her father, a famous musician, dies, and she is raised in the Paris Opera House with his dying promise of a protective angel of music to guide her. After a time at the opera house, she begins hearing a voice, who eventually teaches her how to sing beautifully. All goes well until Christine's childhood friend Raoul comes to visit his parents, who are patrons of the opera, and he sees Christine when she begins successfully singing on the stage. The voice, who is the deformed, murderous 'ghost' of the opera house named Erik, however, grows violent in his terrible jealousy, until Christine suddenly disappears. The phantom is in love, but it can only spell disaster. Leroux's work, with characters ranging from the spoiled prima donna Carlotta to the mysterious Persian from Erik's past, has been immortalized by memorable adaptations. Despite this, it remains a remarkable piece of Gothic horror literature in and of itself, deeper and darker than any version that follows.”
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, “A very young woman's first job: governess for two weirdly beautiful, strangely distant, oddly silent children, Miles and Flora, at a forlorn estate...An estate haunted by a beckoning evil.
Half-seen figures who glare from dark towers and dusty windows- silent, foul phantoms who, day by day, night by night, come closer, ever closer. With growing horror, the helpless governess realizes the fiendish creatures want the children, seeking to corrupt their bodies, possess their minds, own their souls...
But worse-much worse- the governess discovers that Miles and Flora have no terror of the lurking evil.
For they want the walking dead as badly as the dead want them.”
Reading the classics is such a trip!
A drawing of the Flax Machine (gin):
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